Next president cannot ‘walk away from’ Iran nuclear agreement: Helpless Kerry

Secretary of State John Kerry says the next US president cannot afford “to walk away from” the nuclear agreement between Iran and the P5+1 group of countries.

Kerry made the remarks in an interview with The Huffington Post on Thursday, after Democrats secured the votes to protect the Vienna nuclear accord in the Republican-dominated Congress, which is reviewing it and has until September 17 to vote to either approve or disapprove of it.

Democrats need at least 34 votes in the Senate, or 146 in the House of Representatives, to sustain the veto President Barack Obama has promised.

So far 38 senators have announced their support for the nuclear agreement, meaning Democrats will now have enough votes to protect it in Congress.

The top US diplomat said America “will be 90 percent supportive” of the nuclear deal once the next president takes charge, making it impossible for him or her to strike it down.

“I cannot see a president willfully taking the United Nations, five other nations who supported us in this negotiation and saying, ‘Sorry, we’re just going to walk away from this and create a more dangerous situation in the Middle East.’ I just don’t see that happening,” Kerry said.

Iran and the P5+1 group of countries – the US, Britain, France, Russia, China, and Germany – announced the conclusion of nuclear negotiations in the Austrian capital, Vienna.

Under the agreement, Iran has been recognized by the United Nations as a nuclear power and will continue its uranium enrichment program, but some restrictions will be placed on Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for the removal of sanctions.

Republicans, who control both houses of Congress, oppose the agreement because they say it gives too many concessions to Iran and threatens the security of Israel.

Almost all candidates seeking the Republican Party’s nomination for the 2016 presidential election have opposed the Iran nuclear pact and many have even vowed to undo it.